The authority test
The owner is the role authorised to fix the barrier when it stops working. A safety department cannot own most barriers: it does not hold the calibration budget and does not set the shift roster. Ownership sits in the line that runs the work.
A role, not a person
Write a personal name in the owner field and the barrier leaves with that person. The correct entry is a role title — whoever holds the role holds the barrier. The same principle decides in whose name the test records are kept.
One barrier, one owner
| Situation | Result |
|---|---|
| No owner recorded | No testing, degradation goes unnoticed |
| Two owners recorded | Each assumes the other did it |
| Owner without authority | The problem is seen but cannot be fixed |
| Owner recorded as a role | The barrier survives staff changes |
Ownership and escalation factors
Whoever owns a barrier owns its escalation factors too. "The detector is mine, its calibration belongs to maintenance" splits the barrier in two and leaves it in the gap between them.
Auditable ownership
Ownership has to be written down and visible: the same role title should appear in the barrier list, in the maintenance plan and in the test record. Three different names in three places is not ownership but three separate assumptions.